1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image forming device, and more particularly, to an image forming device having an improved structure for a paper tray supporting sheets of paper bearing messages received, formed or printed by the unit.
2. Background Art
In many designs of conventional image forming devices such as facsimile telecommunication units, photocopiers and printers, a cover is installed at the upper portion of an image forming device's housing so as to be capable of being opened and closed. A paper tray supporting stacks of sheets of paper bearing printed or facsimile messages formed, or received, by the unit, is connected to the rear surface of an image forming device's housing. The tray is typically attached by a connection fixedly inserted into a slot formed in the device's housing.
In this type of image forming device, the tray is attached so that when the user attempts to open the cover, movement of the cover is obstructed by the tray. Also, with such structures repeated opening and closing of the cover often results in damage to either the slot in the housing or the connection of the tray. Therefore, the tray should be separated from the image forming device's housing before the cover is opened, an awkward requirement.
A recent effort to provide a discharge paper tray, described in Japanese Laid Open patent application Ser. No. 4-49162 of Hidetoshi Nagata, provides an external vertical wall member pivoted about one axis and a paper discharge tray pivoted about a second and different axis. In this design the location of the second axis however, requires a pair of mounts that inconveniently protrude beyond the vertical wall of the device. Moreover, when the vertical wall member is opened, the over-simplicity of the design causes the tray to shift from an orientation toward the discharge exit to an orientation downwardly away from the discharge exit, thereby inconveniently spilling any sheets of paper previously stacked within the tray.
A pair of earlier designs, shown in Japanese Laid-Open patent application Ser. No. 56-81856, sought to address the problem of spilling the stack when the vertical wall member was opened to clear a jammed sheet of paper from the output rollers, but at the expense of either adding a linkage extending between the proximal end of the tray and the interior of the device, or adding a bumper which protrudes beyond the vertical bulkhead of the device to intercept the downwardly shift in orientation of the distal end of the tray as the vertical wall member is opened. Both designs undesirable add components to the structure of the device, thereby compromising its simplicity, while the latter design requires a member that undesirably extends horizontally outwardly from the base of the device, thereby enlarging the footprint of the device.
Additionally, with conventional designs, when the image forming device is shipped or simply relocated from one site to another within the same office, the tray should be removed from the image forming device's housing and be packed either together with the housing or be transported separately. Therefore, handling of the an image forming device can be troublesome due to excessive volume require to ship both the device and its tray.